On 16 June, the European Parliament Committee on Fisheries (PECH) discussed the proposal for a five years Protocol implementing, for the period 2021-2026, the Sustainable Fisheries Partnership Agreement (SFPA) between the Gabonese Republic and the European Union.
The European Commission representative explained this was a “more ambitious” protocol compared to the previous one: The total contribution per year is of €2.6 million, out of which 1 million will be allocated to sectoral support.
MEPs members of PECH requested additional information regarding the use of sectoral funds, a demand that has also been repeatedly made by civil society and African artisanal fisheries organisations. MEP Caroline Roose insisted that there is a need to “see the [local] socio-economic benefits” of the tuna fisheries, and was joined by MEP Izaskun Bilbao who asked for “the specific programmes and the objectives [to be] achieved”.
Developing local tuna fisheries
Whereas the European Commission listed the key priorities for the use of these funds – fight against IUU fishing, development of Marine Protected Areas and support to the tuna value chain -, it noted the specific programmes would be “defined with Gabon at the Joint Committee” by September 2021.
The Republic of Gabon has repeatedly “expressed the interest” to develop its tuna fisheries value chain, in line with its vision for 2025 “Gabon émergent”, although the Commission noted that “there is a long way to go for Gabon to have a sector that exports.” “A concertation mechanism with the industry” will be put in place by Gabon which will also include “investors and fishing operators”.
The Commission did not respond to MEP Roose’s question regarding support to local artisanal fisheries. Gabon small-scale fisheries produce more than 20,000 tonnes of tuna/year, yet this does not cover the national demand for fish, which is evaluated at 70,000 tonnes.
Exploratory fishing for deep sea shrimps
MEP Caroline Roose also expressed concern regarding the provision for demersal and shrimp “exploratory fishing” for four EU trawlers, and asked about the impacts on the ecosystems and bycatch. In 2013, a study found that the captures of 1kg of deep-sea shrimp was accompanied by 3 to 25kg of bycatch of Sparidae and 3 to 7 kg of juvenile hake bycatch. The Commission representative assured that “there are a number of provisions to ensure that this fishing respects the resource” with the “contribution of the scientists concerned”. MEP Roose insisted on the precautionary approach for this fishery.
Banner photo: Vincent van Doornick/European Parliament.
The author makes 4 recommendations to make the external dimension of the CFP more effective: (1) the EU should shift from access agreements to fisheries governance agreements, while (2) continuing to support informed participation of stakeholders in third countries; (3) it should also ensure that all vessels of EU origin, including those reflagged, abide by sustainability standards; and (4) it should actively engage, at international level, to promote transparent, fair, and sustainable access arrangements applicable to all fleets of foreign origin fishing in developing countries.